Giant Chewy Oatmeal M&M Cookies

Things have been so quiet around here and I would like to apologize, but since I’ve been spending my time cuddling the world’s cutest baby instead of posting I’m kind of sorry not sorry. One day I hope to be able to better balance baby cuddling time with food blogging time, but until then, can I make it up to you by sharing a picture of the world’s cutest baby?

Are still trying to decide what kind of cookies to leave out for Santa? Can I make a suggestion? How about these Giant Chewy Oatmeal M&M Cookies? They are soft, chewy, giant, with the perfect touch of crunchy M&M chocolate. The oatmeal isn’t overwhelming, but it adds a nice texture to the cookies.

 

 

 

Confetti Cake Batter Cookies

Do you know what is no fun at.all. Sick babies. They’re a real bummer. I would know because our sweet 3 month old had her very first cold over Thanksgiving. Poor baby. Then Jesse and I both got colds! It was not the best week at the Sunny Side house. Thankfully we are all feeling much better!

Usually around this time of year I’m posting a week of Christmas cookies. This year it’s been a little harder for me to organize my holiday baking, so I decided not to commit to a full week, instead I’ll just post things as I have time to make them!

These delicious little cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction popped up on my Facebook feed last week and the timing was perfect. I don’t usually have boxed cake mix but I was going to make something for Thanksgiving that called for it so I bought some. I never got around to making what I had originally planned so there it was, just sitting in the pantry waiting to be made into these cookies.

What’s cool about these cookies is that they taste like a cupcake but have the chewy texture of a cookie. It’s the best of both worlds! Plus, you can use festive sprinkles. Who doesn’t like sprinkles? And this would be a great recipe to make with kids. You don’t even need a standing mixer (though you can totally use one if you want!).

The only change I made from the original recipe is to use less sprinkles. The recipe called for 1 cup of sprinkles and that seemed like a lot. In the end I used closer to 1/3 of a cup and I felt like they were plenty sprinkle-y. Below I’ll use my measurement and you can just add more if you’d like. Also, I used my medium cookie scoop and didn’t smooth it out at all before baking so my cookies look a little rougher than Sally’s, next time I’ll roll them into balls instead of using the scoop.

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

You may have noticed that I have been saying “Week of Christmas Treats” and not “Week of Christmas Cookies“. As much as I love (really. love.) cookies, I can’t ignore the other delicious treats loved by so many this time of year. Fudge is something I’ve ignored for the last few years, but I couldn’t let that crime continue another year.

When deciding what kind of fudge I wanted to make I had a lot of ideas swirling around in my head. Once I finally had it narrowed down to 2 ideas, I started searching for good recipes. The problem I came across is that a lot of recipes call for marshmallow fluff or sweetened condensed milk, and some even call for Velveeta cheese (seriously?! tell me it’s better than it sounds). I really wanted to avoid those kinds of products, which, luckily I suppose, really narrowed down my search results. In the end the winning recipe contained evaporated milk (something I usually have on hand anyways) and no marshmallow fluff or sweetened condensed milk (something I never have on hand).

Of course, chocolate and peanut butter are a winning combination in my book. But that’s not all that’s great about this fudge! This fudge is also pretty easy to make and the resulting texture is amazing. Smooth and rich without being obnoxiously sweet (which I find some peanut butter fudge to be). The hardest part for me was deciding when to stop beating the fudge after it cooks and sits. I probably could have gone a bit longer, but I wanted to avoid overbeating.



 

Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Week of Christmas Treats day four and, once again, I’m super excited about this recipe. Funny story, I actually got the recipe from a cookie magazine I bought at Home Depot, of all places. It was a total impulse buy and it wasn’t until I got in the parking lot  and examined the receipt that I realized I had paid $10 for it! Yikes, a little steep for a magazine. Luckily it all turned out well because it was full of yummy recipes.

There is a lot to love about this cookies. First the sweet and spicy cinnamon coating. As the cookie bakes, the sugar coating forms almost a crust. This crust gives the outside just the right crisp, while also sealing in the moist interior. The interior reminds me of a chewy and cakey brownie. If you use the optional cayenne pepper, it doesn’t really affect the flavor, it just adds a warmth. The flavor really reminded me of a Mexican hot chocolate I’ve had in the past. Mmmm….

One last note I need to make. When I wrote out my shopping list for cookie-baking I was sure, SURE, that I had cream of tartar. I could even picture in my mind where it was in the drawer. Fast-forward to cookie-baking time and cream of tartar is no where to be found in my kitchen. Of course I had already started and did not feel like running to the store. So I googled for substitutes and what I found is that there isn’t really one good substitute for it. The best I could find was vinegar, to replace the acidity. So that’s what I used. The cookie texture was perfect and we loved the flavor, so I plan to stick with the vinegar whenever I make these. But I’ll make a note in the recipe that cream of tartar can also be used.